(Original post by pjm600)
I'm aware, the PD could force UStream to take all of them offline.

They'd need a court order if Ustream is unwilling to comply.

They mentioned shutting down a "downlink", I don't know what that is.

I can't think of any technical means they'd have at their disposal. Maybe if the NSA is willing to jump in and help, but otherwise I don't see a huge problem with broadcasting this. It's not as though the suspect can actually do anything with the information.

Not like the Munich Olympic terrorists watching the German police closing in on the television.

(Original post by AlexandrTheGreat)
They'd need a court order if Ustream is unwilling to comply.

I can't think of any technical means they'd have at their disposal. Maybe if the NSA is willing to jump in and help, but otherwise I don't see a huge problem with broadcasting this. It's not as though the suspect can actually do anything with the information.

Not like the Munich Olympic terrorists watching the German police closing in on the television.

Could they arrest for obstruction? Or at least threaten with arrest to make them take down the feeds. I don't know, it does seem unlikely.

I presume they don't want the suspect to know when they're going in, so he doesn't blow himself up.

Paul Adams, BBC World Service Correspondent, writes Someone from CNN has just managed to get a glimpse of the boat, and heard officers shouting for the suspect to come out. The reporter didn't hear any response from inside the boat. This was minutes ago

0120:ABC News update: "Eyewitness: Neighbour went to check boat behind his house today, saw blood, climbed up ladder to open boat's cover, saw a body, called police."

(Original post by pjm600)
Could they arrest for obstruction? Or at least threaten with arrest to make them take down the feeds. I don't know, it does seem unlikely.

My understanding is that it's not actually breaking any laws. The police in the US are broadcasting unencrypted, and scanners are entirely legal. Equally, the 1st Amendment provides a very strong presumption against the police being able to shut this down.

Nixon couldn't even get a court order against publication by the New York Times of the Pentagon Papers, despite the fact that they were Top Secret and stolen.

I presume they don't want the suspect to know when they're going in, so he doesn't blow himself up.

We're not hearing SWAT or FBI radios. They operate on encrypted frequencies. This is just the BPD beat cops.